The company said Dame Denise Holt, the former British Ambassador to Spain, and former Deloitte partner Peter Shawyer would be joining as non-executive directors.

It follows the resignation of Richardson last night, who had been under political pressure to quit since the discovery of a £1.5 billion black hole in the Co-op’s finances. Earlier this week, Brooks Newmark, a member of the Treasury Select Committee, said he would be raising the matter with the City regulator.

Richardson, who also quit as a director of Countrywide, said: “After the ill–informed and inaccurate commentary in the media concerning myself and my departure from the Co–operative Bank and the acquisition of Britannia by the Co–operative Group, this was the right thing to do. I will co–operate fully with any official enquiry there may be into the transaction between Britannia and the Co–operative Group, or the circumstances of my departure from the Co–operative Bank.”